


perigee, apogee

by seventhstar



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, East of the Sun and West of the Moon Elements, Fairy Tale Style
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-05-07
Packaged: 2019-05-03 09:38:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14566218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seventhstar/pseuds/seventhstar
Summary: Once upon a time, there was a thief who stole the prince of the moon.





	perigee, apogee

**Author's Note:**

> this was originally something i wrote for _morning sun, moonless night_ , but it didn't work out. so now y'all are getting it early while i cry my way through my actual zine piece lmao.

Once upon a time, in the days when the moon was always full, there lived a thief.

This was no ordinary thief; he was the most notorious thief in the kingdom where he lived. He was known to only steal what was beautiful, and to never rob the poor or the innocent. He carried a silver knife that was said to cut anything, and a red rope that could not be cut; in his pocket was the statue of a brown dog, which made his footsteps silent, and over his eyes he wore a black mask, which gave him true sight. He stole jewels, and fairy gold, and dragon scales, and bars of sunlight, and skeins of unicorn hair, and every other lovely thing you could imagine.

But the thief had a weakness, too: he was plagued by a terrible fear, formless and inconsistent, which came upon him at critical moments and sought to destroy him from within. He had three times nearly been caught because fear paralyzed him, and he dreaded the day when he would be clapped in irons because of it.

One wintry night, the thief was riding through the great forest when the moon went out.

The thief tied up his horse and climbed a tree, and from the highest branches he looked out over the forest and saw the glow of the moon coming from the earth. Curious, the thief crept through the wood, feet making no sound over the fallen leaves and twigs, until he came upon the moon himself.

The prince of the moon had come down from the celestial palace, and the thief watched as four bandits shackled the sleeping prince in chains. Now the thief was no warrior, and at first he gripped the dog in his pocket and stood frozen by his fear. Then, the thief saw the first drop of the prince’s blood fall to the forest floor. He concealed himself behind a bush and threw stones at the bandits until they came to investigate; while they were distracted, the thief took the prince into his arms and carried him into the woods.

The thief woke the prince, and meant to ask how he might be returned to the celestial palace. But then he saw the prince of the moon clearly, and he was beautiful. His hair could have been spun from the starlight, his eyes were the color of the sea the thief had lived by as a child, and his parted lips were like the petals of the first rose of summer. Eros’ arrow struck the thief’s heart. The thief said nothing of returning the prince home; instead, he wrapped the prince in his cloak and stole him away.

Now the thief at this time lived in a cabin in the wood, and though it was clean and neat, it was in no way fit for a prince. When the thief saw it in the light of the prince’s shining hair, he was afraid: surely if the prince saw it, he would not stay. So when the prince woke, the thief installed him by the fire and said, “Stay here and do not venture into the forest alone. Tell whatever it is you wish and I will bring it to you.”

And the prince said, “This is the first time I have left the celestial palace; there are many things I have never seen. Bring me a rose.”

Winter passed. Word reached the thief of a crown of diamonds, but he did not go to steal it. Instead he taught the prince how to build a fire, how to smoke meat so there would be food during the long winter nights, and how to mend his tunic against the cold. There were no roses that bloomed in the snow, so the thief brought him a comb decorated with a rose made of rubies, and a rose patterned cloak, and a bottle of rose oil perfume. With each gift he feared that the prince would grow offended, but he did not. The thief placed the comb in the prince’s hair, and the cloak over his shoulders, and drops of the perfume on his wrists and throat, and in return the prince sang him the songs of far off planets and taught him the names of the constellations.

One snowy night, the thief came upon a red-haired girl, who told him she was a princess of a red planet. She asked if he had seen her brother, the prince of the moon, for the nights were long and dull without his presence in the palace.

The thief’s heart was moved by her plight, for he too had a sister he missed, but he was afraid: surely the princess would take away the prince, and the thief would never see him again. So he promised himself he would send the prince home in the spring, and to the princess said nothing.

Winter turned to spring, and again, the thief said, “Stay here and do not venture into the forest alone. Tell me whatever it is you wish and I will bring it to you.”

And the prince said, “I have only seen the ocean from above; bring me the tides.”

The forest began to bloom. The thief could have gone to steal apples of solid gold from the mountains, but he did not. Instead he taught the prince which plants were good to eat and which could be used to heal a wound or slow a fever, the names and calls of the songbirds, the meanings of the flowers. He could not carry the vastness of the sea into the forest, so the thief brought him polished white conch shells to hear the ocean in, and strands of lustrous pearls, and delicately cured fish to taste. The thief held the shell to the prince’s ear, and fastened the pearls around his neck, and placed each morsel of fish between his lips. In return, the prince taught him to hear the ancient voices of the trees, and to coax the forest animals to approach, and to dance the wild dances of comets under the starry sky.

One rainy night, he came upon a yellow-haired boy, who told him he was the prince of a passing comet. He asked if he had seen his brother, the prince of the moon, for his father the sun king had decreed that there were to be no court entertainments until he returned home.

The thief’s heart was moved by his plight, for he too had a father in a faraway seaside town who missed him, but he was afraid: surely the young prince would take away his brother, and the thief would never hear from him again. So he promised himself he would send the prince home in the summer, and to the younger prince said nothing.

Spring turned to summer, and again, the thief said, “Stay here and do not venture into the forest alone. Tell me whatever it is that you wish and I will bring it to you.”

And the prince said, “Whenever you are gone, I am lonely; bring me a companion for when you cannot be at my side.”

The forest grew verdant and wild. The thief gave up theft, and instead he taught the prince to smear kohl around his eyes against the bright sun, to weave traps to catch hares, to dance the equinox dances around the fire. He thought to bring the prince a bird, but its feathers were the same color as the princess’s eyes; he thought to bring the prince a cat, but its fur was the color of the young prince’s hair; finally the thief found a friendly dog with warm brown fur, and brought it to the prince to name. In the evenings, the prince brushed the dog while the thief wove flowers into the prince’s braid. In return, when they lay side by side in the pitch dark nights, the prince pressed his lips to the thief’s own and whispered that he was more beautiful than any star in the sky.

And though the thief knew this was not so, his heart still pounded at the prince’s effusive praise.

One sweltering night, he came upon an old man, who told him he was the king of the sun. He asked if he had seen his son, the prince of the moon, for the prince had abandoned his post in the sky and now the nights were too dark for the men who lived on the earth.

The thief’s heart was moved by his plight, for he, too, had felt the world was dark before he met the prince, but he was afraid: surely the king would take away the prince, and the thief would never kiss him again. So he promised himself that he would send the prince home in the fall, and to the king said nothing.

Summer turned to fall, and again, the thief said, “Stay here and do not venture into the forest alone. Tell me whatever it is you wish, and I will bring it to you.”

And the prince said, “I have everything I desire when you are with me; forget the gift, and return to me quickly.”

The forest turned orange and red and gold as the leaves turned. The thief was barely a thief anymore; instead, he remained with the prince, making preparations for winter. He taught the prince to harvest the vegetables and fruits from their garden, to catch game to smoke over the fire, to hang heavy furs over the doors and windows to keep out the cold. The thief could not bear to give the prince nothing, for he felt it keenly that he could not provide the prince with all the splendors of the celestial palace he deserved, so one night he stole away to the city and exchanged a handful of his jewels for a pair of gold rings. He placed the ring on the prince’s finger, and in return the prince placed the matching ring on the thief’s; they made no pledges to each other with words, but as the nights grew longer and colder, they lay with arms and legs intertwined, in wordless and perfect contentment.

One chilly night, he came upon an old woman, who told him she was the queen of the stars. She asked if he had seen her son, the prince of the moon, for the prince had left behind his family and nothing had been heard of him since.

The thief’s heart was moved by her plight, for he, too, had not sent word to his family since his crimes had driven him away from home, but he was afraid: surely she would take the prince away, and the thief would never have his love again. So he promised himself that he would send the prince home again someday, and to the queen said nothing.

Fall turned to winter, and as the snow began to fall over the forest again, word came to the thief’s ears of a pure blue diamond, made from a fallen star, dug up in the mountains and brought to the city to be polished by a renowned jeweler. The prince, when the thief told him the rumor, smiled and said that he would love to see such a thing, and the thief, heart still heavy with guilt, promised to bring it to him.

“I have no need for such a thing,” the prince said. “Stay with me.”

And the thief said, “Don’t worry, I will return in three days,” for he saw that sometimes when the prince sang the songs of the stars, his eyes were sad, and the thief knew no other way to ease his pain.

The thief took up his knife, and his rope, and donned his mask, and he rode to the city to steal the diamond. It had been four seasons since the thief had stolen, and he was slow and cautious; three days became five, five days became ten. When twelve days had passed, the thief tucked the diamond into his pocket and rode back to the prince in triumph.

But when he arrived at the cabin, the fire had gone out; the table and chairs had been overturned; their dog was shivering out in the snow; and the thief’s beloved prince was gone.

The thief fed the dog, and built up the fire to warm them both. He set out dried meat as an offering by the window.. When a raven came, he caught it in his hands and asked, “Raven, tell me, where did my prince go?”

And the raven said, “Thief, the witch of the northern lights came, and carried him away in his carriage to make him his groom.”

Now the witch of the north was both wicked and powerful, and he made his home in a palace of ice at the top of the world. The thief despaired, for he would never reach the prince in time to halt the wedding, and once the prince was married to the witch he would be in his thrall forever.

“Raven,” asked the thief, “Tell me, how can I reach the top of the world?”

“In this forest, there are three animals with the power of enchantment: a brown bear, a black eagle, and a white stag. You must go to them and ask if they will assist you. And I will tell you where they are to be found, but you must first give me the diamond in your pocket.”

So the thief handed over the diamond, which the raven swallowed, and in exchange the raven plucked out three of its feathers and gave them to the thief to burn. The thief put on the prince’s rose patterned cloak, and took his jeweled comb and his pearls, and then he burned the first feather in their hearth.

The first feather took him to the black eagle. The thief knelt at the base of the eagle’s tree, and asked, “Eagle, my prince has been stolen by the witch of the north. Will you fly me to him?”

And the eagle said, “First, you must give me your knife.”

So the thief untied the knife from his belt and hung it from a branch of the tree. The eagle swallowed it, and then said, “The witch tricked your prince by promising to take him to his sister. Why did you conceal him from her?”

And the thief said, “Because I wished to keep him for a season longer.”

“You lie,” said the black eagle, and it flew away.

So the thief, despairing, wept. Then he wiped his eyes, and he burned the second feather, which took him to the brown bear. The thief knelt at the entrance of the bear’s cave, and asked, “Bear, my prince has been stolen by the witch of the north. Will you carry me to him?”

And the bear said, “First, you must give me your rope.”

So the thief untied the rope from his belt, and threw it into the cave. The bear swallowed it, and then said, “The witch of the north tricked your prince by promising to take him to his brother. Why did you conceal him from him?”

And the thief said, “Because I wished to keep him for a season longer.”

“You lie,” said the brown bear, and it vanished into the depths of the cave.

So the thief, despairing, wailed with grief. Then he wiped his eyes, and he burned the third and final feather, which took him to the white stag. The thief knelt before the stag, and asked, “Stag, my prince has been stolen by the witch of the north. Will you take me to him?”

And the stag said, “First, you must give me the statue of the dog you keep in your pocket.”

So the thief produced the statue and laid it down in the grass. The stag swallowed it, and then said, “The witch of the north tricked your prince by promising to take him to his parents. Why did you conceal him from them?”

And the thief said, “Because I wished to keep him for a season longer.”

“You lie,” said the white stag, and it began to gallop away. But the thief, despairing and trembling, flung himself in front of its hooves and begged. The stag was moved, and took pity on him.

“I can do nothing for you,” said the stag. “But there is a fourth animal with the power of enchantment in this forest, though I do not know if it can help you. You must go to the great tree at the heart of the forest, and ask for the help of the grey mouse.”

The thief thanked the stag for its mercy, and went forth into the forest until he came to the foot of the great tree. He knew the way well, for the great tree was ancient and powerful, and he had often brought the prince there so the prince could speak to it. At the base of the tree was a thick root, and on the root was a knothole, and when the thief laid an offering of blood and tears on the bark, the knothole opened to reveal the grey mouse.

“Mouse,” the thief said, “My prince has been stolen by the witch of the north. You are my last hope; can you lead me to him?”

And the mouse said, “First, you must take off that mask.”

So the thief shed his mask, revealing eyes that were red from crying, and begged the mouse again for its help.

And the mouse swallowed the mask, and asked, as all the other animals had before, “The witch of the north tricked your prince by telling him you had deceived him. Now, what will you say to the prince if I take you to him?”

And the thief said, “That I love him, and could not bear to lose him, and I’m sorry.”

And the mouse said, “The witch’s palace is surrounded by dangers, and you may be too late, and even if you reach the prince, he may refuse you.”

And the thief showed the mouse the ring on his hand and said, “Even if he never loves me again, I must protect him from the witch’s magic; I beg you, show me the way.”

The mouse was moved, for it had seen the prince and the thief before many times, and knew the thief’s heart was true. It led the thief to a hole between the roots of the true, a dark damp hole with no bottom, and said that if the thief crawled for two days and two nights without food or drink, without sleep or stopping, he would emerge on the grounds of the palace in the north.

The thief descended into the tunnel, and for two nights and two days he suffered. His throat burned, his belly cramped, his arms and legs grew leaden and weary. But each time he began to falter, he would remember the prince, sitting by the fire and mending the thief’s tunic, tucking his long hair around the thief’s neck at night against the cold, asking the thief to promise he would return to the prince’s side. And the thief went on, until on the morning of the third day, he climbed from the tunnel to emerge in a wasteland of ice and snow.

Before him lay the castle. Around it was a thicket of brambles made of ice, with icicles as long as his arm and as sharp as a dragon’s teeth; behind the thicket, the walls of the palace were wet and smooth; and at the top of the highest tower, there was a window, and in it the thief saw his prince’s glowing hair there fluttering in the wind, colored by the flickering light of the aurora overhead. Exhausted, the thief melted a handful of snow and drank it, and then began to make his way to the tower.

The thorns of ice pierced the thief’s skin, but he had no knife to clear his way: he broke them with the jeweled comb in his pocket until it shattered into pieces. When he reached the tower wall he was bloodied, and there were no handholds for him to use to climb. The thief had no rope, so he took the strand of pearls from his neck and used it to scale the tower. When he reached the window, the thread snapped, and the pearls fell to the earth like rain. The thief climbed through the window to rescue the prince, but he had no dog statue to muffle his footsteps, and before he could take another step, he was attacked by one of the witch’s familiars, a wolf made of snow.

The thief was bitten, but he threw his cloak over the wolf to blind it and stomped it to pieces. He turned to where he had seen the flutter of the prince’s hair, but it was a trick: the prince’s long, silvery hair had been cut away, and sewn to a curtain that hung in the window. The thief nearly succumbed to despair, for he knew how vain the prince was over his beautiful hair, but he turned over the ring on his finger and went on. He descended the steps of the tower until he came to a great golden door, and when he opened the door, he found himself in the throne room of the witch.

The witch of the north had hair like ashes, and eyes like bruises, and a cruel mouth; he sat on a throne of frozen blood, and at his feet sat the prince, with his hair shorn and a collar of diamonds around his throat. He wore only his tunic, with bare feet and hands, and he shivered from the cold. When the thief demanded the prince’s return, the witch’s laugh was as cold as the heart of a frost-burned corpse.

“Why should I lift the enchantment?” the witch asked. “Why should you have him? I have a palace fit for royalty, and treasures beyond your wildest imagination. You are only a thief. What have you to offer?”

“Love,” the thief said.

“Love! There is no such thing,” the witch said. “But since you have come this far, I will bargain with you, thief. We will each give the prince a gift, and from the gifts he will decide which of us he wishes to have. If he chooses me, I will marry him tonight, and you will leave this place forevermore. And if he chooses you, I will undo the spell, and send you back to your home.”

“That is not a fair bargain,” the thief protested, “for while he is under your enchantment he cannot choose freely.”

And the witch said, “If your love is true, will it not overcome the curse? Or are you weak?”

The thief did not believe himself strong in any way, nor did he have any magical power that might be used to free the prince. Though he was quick, and clever, he was afraid: if he lost this game, the witch would take the prince as his husband, as his slave. But the thief was brave, too, for he had been nourished by the prince’s love, and he agreed to the witch’s terms.

The witch presented his gift first: an enchanted sword, with sapphires and emeralds inlaid in the handle, and an edge so sharp it could cut the air itself. It was laid before the prince on a velvet cushion, and it gleamed bright in the flickering light of the aurora overhead.

The thief had nothing but a shard of the comb left to give. But though it paled in comparison to the witch’s offering, when the prince was asked which he liked best, he selected the shard of comb with shaking fingers.

“You have cheated,” the witch proclaimed, “we will try again.”

Next the witch brought a bowl made of beaten gold and filled to the brim with jewelry fit for a king: long chains with ruby pendants as large as a pigeon’s egg, silver rings with detailing as fine as a spider’s web, crowns set with fiery opals and glossy obsidian. Everything was polished to a shine, and reflected the greenish light of the torches.

The thief had nothing but a single cracked pearl left to give, but though it was poor in comparison to the witch’s offering, when the prince was asked which he preferred, he selected the pearl with one pale hand.

“You have cheated,” the witch proclaimed again, “we will try a third time.”

Next the witch gave the prince a robe of silk, lined with mink fur and embroidered with colorful flowers. The fabric was as soft as a spring wind, the fur as warm as a hot spring, and when it was set around the prince’s shoulders, he stopped shivering at once.

The thief had nothing but a scrap of the rose-patterned cloak that was stained with his own blood left to give, but though it was meager in comparison to the witch’s offering, when the prince was asked which he wanted, he shrugged off the witch’s robe and chose the scrap of the cloak with one blue-tinged fingertip.

At this the witch grew enraged and said, “We will try a final time!”

Now the witch knelt before the prince, and took his hand in his own, and pledged his fidelity, his passion, his all-consuming desire. He promised to forget all the lovers he had taken before, to build the prince a second palace anywhere he desired, to make him king and sovereign over the whole of the earth.

The thief had no talent for flattery, no silver edge to his tongue. But he took the prince’s other hand, and pressed his thumb over the ring the prince still wore, and said, “My prince, I love you, and I’m sorry. I could not bear to lose you. Please let me bring you home.”

Though his words were plain in comparison to the witch’s, though the witch continued to profess his lust for the prince, the thrall laid over the prince’s heart cracked.

And the prince squeezed the thief’s hand and whispered, very softly, “You came.”

And the thief kissed the prince’s hand, and tucked it between his palms to warm it, and said, “I did.”

The earth shook, and the sky thundered, and the walls of the palace shattered one by one, and the witch howled with rage as the power of his magic was broken. The thief covered the prince in the witch’s robe, and seized the sword and the bowl of jewels (for he was still a thief, after all) and dragged the prince to safety. They stood in each other’s arms outside the ruin of the palace, and it was there that the prince’s family found them.

The king of the sun ordered the prince to return to the palace, to light the night sky again, and the prince of the moon refused to leave the earth, for he wished to remain there as the thief’s husband. The king derided the thief, and listed all the qualities that made him unsuitable; the prince described all the gifts and kindnesses the thief had given him. Finally, the king grew tired of arguing with the prince, for they were equally stubborn, and asked the thief if he would give the prince up for the sake of the earth.

And the thief thought himself unworthy, but his heart was stronger than his fear that day, and he said, “The men of this earth have thousands of stars to light their way, but I have only one heart, and have bestowed it on your son. I have nothing to offer him but my heart in return, but please, if he wishes to stay with me, let him until he tires of my company.”

The queen asked, “If my son wishes to return to the heavens, will you release him?”

And the thief started to say yes, but could not, for the prince would not allow the words to leave his lips, and swallowed them up with his own.

At this the royal family was moved, for they could see the light in the face of the prince was purer and more joyful than it had ever been, and they were a loving family who did not wish to deprive him of his happiness, even for the sake of all men and their nighttime travels. The king agreed to the marriage, and the thief and the prince were wed, with the entire galaxy as their wedding procession. The prince gave his father the shining hair the witch had cut away, and promised to return once a month to have his hair cut again, so that there would still be some light in the night sky.

And so, thought there remained one night a month when the moon was full as it had always been in the past, the prince returned to the forest to live with the thief. They sold the treasures of the witch, and the rest of the thief’s spoils, and set themselves up comfortably in the cabin in the woods, and there was always one night a month when the moon went dark, and the prince was the thief’s and the thief’s alone.

When parents told their story to children by the fire, to while away the long cold nights, they called the thief Eros, and said that he was the god of love. They said that if the children were good, and brave, and kind, Eros would lead them to their loves, and preside over their marriages with a rain of stars. The heartbroken could come to the temple on the new moon, and leave on Eros’s altar a broken comb, or a cracked bead, or a scrap of cloth. If their love was true, and their intentions pure, he would descend from the celestial palace and come to their aid.

**Author's Note:**

> comments are much appreciated! (i lowkey want to write a sequel, where yuuri gets arrested and viktor has to convince the king to release him, and there's jjbella...)


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